Over the last 20 years, states have put barriers in front of the ballot box — imposing strict voter ID laws, cutting voting times, restricting registration, and purging voter rolls. These efforts, which received a boost when the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act in 2013, have kept significant numbers of eligible voters from th…
Over the last 20 years, states have put barriers in front of the ballot box — imposing strict voter ID laws, cutting voting times, restricting registration, and purging voter rolls. These efforts, which received a boost when the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act in 2013, have kept significant numbers of eligible voters from the polls, hitting all Americans, but placing special burdens on racial minorities, poor people, and young and old voters.
The Brennan Center fights vote suppression on every front. Our lawsuits have blocked or weakened some of the worst suppression schemes, including Texas’s strict voter ID law. And our groundbreaking research has helped win the battle for public opinion. We have shown that voter fraud and illegal voting — often cited to justify regressive voting laws— aren’t a systematic and widespread occurrence; racial minorities are much more likely than whites to lack accepted voter ID; and that there is a growing threat of voter roll purges, which risk disenfranchising large numbers of eligible voters.(Brennan Center for Justice)
Continuing Threats to Free and Fair Elections
Without dedicated and knowledgeable staff ready and willing to run elections, easy access to a secure ballot cannot be guaranteed for anyone.
I asked my daughter about ID in New York because you can’t do anything without a state ID and proof of vaccination. She said the state issues everyone an ID no matter your status. So if here in Texas you might be considered an immigrant or more likely an illegal immigrant, you would still get a state ID if you lived in New York. Can’t do that in Texas! Immigrants hide from the system. There are areas where they have like checkpoints to see if people have correct documentation for being in the US. And Immigration follows children home from school to try to catch their parents! Imagine if we could reach those newer Americans to get vaccinated and even vote.
I read something a couple days ago that said you have to prove proficiency in English to get a drivers license in Oklahoma. It was in sociology so I’m trusting that to be true. What I haven’t researched is if you have the same issue getting an ID and how that affects your ability to vote. This seems exactly like a method meant to suppress the vote.
Texas does have a bit of a problem with illegal immigration given its proximity to the border, the large inflow over that border, the limited physical and monetary extent of the Texas Public school system and the requirement that illegal kids be permitted to attend schools.
When I attended my rural school in East Texas my class size was probably 16 or so.
Now? Rural Texas public schools are overflowing with poor kids from illegal migrants that speak no English. This is bad for both the immigrants and the people who actually are paying property taxes to fund the schools.
1. There is not enough money to cover all the kids because less than half of the kids parents are paying property taxes.
2. There is not enough room in the classes for all the kids.
3. There are not enough teachers for all the kids even if they all spoke English.
4. The language barrier in the absence of giant English as a second language classes is significant and leave the migrant kids basically using the Public School system as babysitting.
So, where illegal migration is relevant, if YOUR child was in a Texas Public school, you might be pretty worked up about trying to limit the 80,000 to 200,000 migrants A MONTH down there.
I know a lot of young people who are citizens but whose parents live here in NY without papers. They are going to school and/or persuing trades. Anybody who pays rent is by default paying property taxes. Think about big cities where most people rent apartments - this is such a canard.
In Texas the farmers provide "high density housing" on their farms for the migrants.
So, the rural schools that were once sparsley attended, are packed with illegal migrant kids, and, yes, the land they are packed onto is taxed at the same rate as land where four people are living.
This is exactly why I don’t think a federal holiday to vote will be effective. The white collar workers already are allowed time to vote without loss of pay. But, our on the ground workers in grocery, retail, construction and other businesses that operate on an hourly or by-the-job basis will still have to work. If they don’t they won’t get paid. They’re the ones that need that pay just to survive.
Over the last 20 years, states have put barriers in front of the ballot box — imposing strict voter ID laws, cutting voting times, restricting registration, and purging voter rolls. These efforts, which received a boost when the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act in 2013, have kept significant numbers of eligible voters from the polls, hitting all Americans, but placing special burdens on racial minorities, poor people, and young and old voters.
The Brennan Center fights vote suppression on every front. Our lawsuits have blocked or weakened some of the worst suppression schemes, including Texas’s strict voter ID law. And our groundbreaking research has helped win the battle for public opinion. We have shown that voter fraud and illegal voting — often cited to justify regressive voting laws— aren’t a systematic and widespread occurrence; racial minorities are much more likely than whites to lack accepted voter ID; and that there is a growing threat of voter roll purges, which risk disenfranchising large numbers of eligible voters.(Brennan Center for Justice)
Continuing Threats to Free and Fair Elections
Without dedicated and knowledgeable staff ready and willing to run elections, easy access to a secure ballot cannot be guaranteed for anyone.
https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote/vote-suppression
https://billmoyers.com/story/voting-rights-under-threat/
https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote/vote-suppression
I asked my daughter about ID in New York because you can’t do anything without a state ID and proof of vaccination. She said the state issues everyone an ID no matter your status. So if here in Texas you might be considered an immigrant or more likely an illegal immigrant, you would still get a state ID if you lived in New York. Can’t do that in Texas! Immigrants hide from the system. There are areas where they have like checkpoints to see if people have correct documentation for being in the US. And Immigration follows children home from school to try to catch their parents! Imagine if we could reach those newer Americans to get vaccinated and even vote.
There is a majority that does not vote. This is where we need to work, as Stacy Abrams has showed us.
I read something a couple days ago that said you have to prove proficiency in English to get a drivers license in Oklahoma. It was in sociology so I’m trusting that to be true. What I haven’t researched is if you have the same issue getting an ID and how that affects your ability to vote. This seems exactly like a method meant to suppress the vote.
Denise,
Texas does have a bit of a problem with illegal immigration given its proximity to the border, the large inflow over that border, the limited physical and monetary extent of the Texas Public school system and the requirement that illegal kids be permitted to attend schools.
When I attended my rural school in East Texas my class size was probably 16 or so.
Now? Rural Texas public schools are overflowing with poor kids from illegal migrants that speak no English. This is bad for both the immigrants and the people who actually are paying property taxes to fund the schools.
1. There is not enough money to cover all the kids because less than half of the kids parents are paying property taxes.
2. There is not enough room in the classes for all the kids.
3. There are not enough teachers for all the kids even if they all spoke English.
4. The language barrier in the absence of giant English as a second language classes is significant and leave the migrant kids basically using the Public School system as babysitting.
So, where illegal migration is relevant, if YOUR child was in a Texas Public school, you might be pretty worked up about trying to limit the 80,000 to 200,000 migrants A MONTH down there.
I know a lot of young people who are citizens but whose parents live here in NY without papers. They are going to school and/or persuing trades. Anybody who pays rent is by default paying property taxes. Think about big cities where most people rent apartments - this is such a canard.
Grace,
In Texas the farmers provide "high density housing" on their farms for the migrants.
So, the rural schools that were once sparsley attended, are packed with illegal migrant kids, and, yes, the land they are packed onto is taxed at the same rate as land where four people are living.
That is a real problem.
This is exactly why I don’t think a federal holiday to vote will be effective. The white collar workers already are allowed time to vote without loss of pay. But, our on the ground workers in grocery, retail, construction and other businesses that operate on an hourly or by-the-job basis will still have to work. If they don’t they won’t get paid. They’re the ones that need that pay just to survive.
This is why we need universal mail-in voting.
The Oregon way.
Completely agree Fern.